


Goddammit Revan, Tatooine Edition

by viveriveniversumvivusvici55



Series: Goddammit Revan [3]
Category: Star Wars Legends: Knights of the Old Republic (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Oral History, Revan is confusing, Sand People Storyteller, Spoilers, Tusken Raiders (Star Wars), and Bastila does not quite know how to deal, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 07:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20305981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viveriveniversumvivusvici55/pseuds/viveriveniversumvivusvici55
Summary: It would be so much easier to focus on the mission if Revan was anything like Bastila had expected.Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.





	Goddammit Revan, Tatooine Edition

**Author's Note:**

> A little shift from the original ‘dammit’ tone. I am a librarian IRL, so the sharing of the Sand People’s oral history was absolutely fascinating to me. Also, if the title and tags didn't immediately give it away, spoilers ahead – because Bastila knows exactly who Ari is.
> 
> Also yes, there is an Old World Blues quote in here. I always liked it.
> 
> As always, Ari is the name that I gave my character in-game. Revan here is gender-neutral to allow you to put in whichever Revan you played. The only defining trait here is that Revan is Light-Side leaning (and that I chose the Scout background).

“I am honoured. Ask him what he records.”

This would all be so much easier if Revan was anything like Bastila had expected. She had read Revan’s files before engaging their ship – she knew their background, history with the Jedi, a touch of their personality. Revan had been charismatic, combining a commanding presence with just the right words to be able to pull anyone to their side. They were intelligent and curious, always seeking new knowledge and ready to use it for their own means. Along with Malak, Revan had become an unstoppable force with personality, skill, and whatever else they had found in the Outer Rim. Revan was a monster – a charming monster, but a monster nonetheless.

Ari, on the other hand…

Bastila focuses back on the moment. Ari stands in front of her, arms crossed behind their back and open expression on their face. HK-47, the assassin droid (_what had become of this mission if Revan’s own assassin droid had joined them)_, stands beside them, translating the words of the Sand People’s Storyteller. Ari had taken the krayt dragon pearl, payment for killing it, and immediately used it to find out more about these people with whom they had crafted a delicate peace. True, there may be a nugget or two about the Builders in this – and Bastila had to admit that any information about these Builders would be helpful if they could find out what the Star Forge was for. But Ari seems genuinely interested, nodding along.

“Translation: Theirs is an oral history, master, an active part of their lives. It is only permitted to relay the tales face to face. A book or datapad can be taken away, cheapening the value of what it contains. To commit it to paper or storage is to remove it from the people.”

Ari makes an affirming noise, nodding in understanding. Bastila can see their small smile from this angle and wonders what Ari is thinking. What _Revan _is thinking. It is hard to remember sometimes that those were the same person. The before and after seem so…different. Focused, yes, but Ari is warmer, more prone to stumbling. They snap at Bastila when she oversteps but yields to her wisdom and those of their companions. They comfort Mission after the loss of Taris and the betrayal of her brother, but gladly encourage Canderous Ordo’s stories of various Mandalore conflicts. They make mistakes, cause fights as much as they try to stop them, and all the while, finds more people who are willing to help them with their goals.

Perhaps this is what Revan was like before finding the Star Forge. With that revelation, Bastila finds herself even more concerned with the idea of finding it.

“What topics can I choose from?”

After more unintelligible sounds, HK-47 responds. “Translation: You may choose to hear the history, or you may choose not to. Their history is a single entity that cannot be partitioned. The only exception is in continuing the tales once they have begun. If you leave, when you return, he will continue from where he left off.”

Ari – _Revan_ – nods. “Then ask if he could begin the history.”

The story flows almost as Bastila expects – a vibrant world and a technologically advanced ravaged by an outside alien force, and that fear of outsiders and rising above turned into aggression against any like those outsiders. What is more interesting to her is that Revan…never interrupts. Not even once. There are pauses, places where Revan could conceivably ask questions about what they just heard, trying to wheedle more information out of the Storyteller to try and get more information about the Builders. They certainly had done that to the droid on Dantooine. Even so…Revan stays silent. They only interject to ask the Storyteller to continue the history. 

Bastila wonders, for a moment, about Revan’s oral history. All she knew of Revan before was what she had read and what she had heard from reports of Revan’s attacks. There was no chance to ask what Revan and Malak found or what they had learned, and if anyone had asked, they were either killed or swayed over to their side. Now, that history had been disrupted with Revan’s capture and mind wipe. All they could do was desperately retrace those steps, trying to find what that history had lost. 

“Is there anything further?”

She blinks, realizing that although she had briefly drifted in each time the Builders were mentioned, she hadn’t paid any attention to the details. Dammit. Now she had no idea what was said – or if any of it was useful. She doubts that Ari will tell her later. Even without the Sand People present, they will not want to commit blasphemy. She knows this much of them by now.

“Editing: The last thousand years are full of conflicts with different groups of attempted planetary settlers, all of whom are poorly described, long dead, and likely untraceable. I believe I have truncated it down to the useable bits in what was already said. I hope it is enough, master.” 

If Bastila had any less control in her emotional presentation, she would snicker. A little huff of breath does escape her, though, and Revan turns to give her a little smile.

Revan considers. “Are the stories passed on from storyteller to storyteller then?”

HK-47 asks, and the storyteller responds with, if Bastila reads it right, passion and pride.

“Translation: The stories are learned perfectly by each successive Storyteller. In fact, they aren’t allowed to speak the stories aloud unless they are exact. Any error is considered a blasphemy punishable by death.”

Ari’s eyebrows raise sharply. “That was said before, but that puts a lot of importance on keeping the storytellers alive until they are learned to perfection.”

“Criticism: It seems inefficient to me, master. A score of apprentice storytellers would be slaughtered each generation. What if the elder died before completing the teachings?”

“That’s a good question. Ask him that.”

_Please don’t, _Bastila thinks. _We do not need any blasphemy. The peace is fragile enough. _But it is in vain, as HK asks the question and the Storyteller responds.

“Translation: Apprentices are trained from birth. Very few speak the words in error. Storytellers are most often lost in battles between tribes. Any tribe that loses its Storyteller is obviously unworthy of existing. They lose their connection to history and destroy themselves with infighting soon after.”

Ari nods. “Who are we who do not know our history?”

HK translates that and the Storyteller seems to approve. With that statement, Ari - _Revan, Darth Revan _\- waves goodbye and they move through the compound.

Bastila feels a bit of a chill run down her spine. She swallows, keeping her face still and her emotions as clear as she can. She doesn't want Ari to ask what is wrong - they are already perceptive enough. But this feels...wrong. Without a connection to history, or at least a true history...

_Goddammit, Revan. Who are you indeed?_


End file.
